Black Star 2 : Everything's Heavy Underground
by Fantasmagorie
Summary: Arian, the sole heir to the Goblin Kingdom, tries to juggle running a Labyrinth and seeing her friends in the Aboveworld. To add to her problems, she's being pressured to get married, her father's going a bit strange and Toby's got a crush on her!
1. Chapter One

BLACK STAR II : EVERYTHING'S HEAVY UNDERGROUND  
  
Chapter One  
  
Disclaimer - I own nothing. You hear me! Nothing!!!  
  
A/N - Hiya! I just put this story back after someone complained about me deleting it (you know who you are). There's nothing new I just squashed it all inot one big chapter.  
  
Arian sat cross legged on a bench in the castle gardens reading and re-reading some documents she should have gone over yesterday. The air was cool and the roses trembled in the breeze as if they possessed their own magical energy. The busy waters of the nearby fountain glittered in the late afternoon light and babbled cheerfully in its native aquatic tongue.  
  
She had changed a lot in the past three years. There was something different in the way she carried herself. She was more regal, more confident and more modern than most. Her hair was shorter now and stylishly framed her face to rest upon her shoulders, free from the heavy, oppressive braids she used to wear through her childhood. She still wore her usual sombre dresses but her wardrobe now had the edition of a black hooded sweater with a picture of Che Guevara on the front. The Aboveworld had now become a second home to the young Goblin Queen and was where she got said hoody from. She no longer conformed to what was expected of women in her world, but rather embraced the freedoms of her other world.  
  
Arian had been crowned joint ruler of the Labyrinth on her sixteenth birthday, where she would reign alongside her adopted father, Jareth, until she was ready to go it alone. The decision had been highly unorthodox among the Fae. Never had a daughter been proclaimed an heir to a kingdom before, or one with no biological heritage to the throne. However, Arian had a gift that no other possessed. The Seers had called it Fate Magic, scientists on Earth had called it excessive neurological activity. But Arian,  
nicknamed by her peers as the Black Star for her bright mind and distant manner,  
could make things happen just by writing down her thoughts. Her word, or at least her written word, was law.  
  
Had it really been a year? With all her work she had to do the time just flew by. She was constantly pestered by nightmares of being an old woman locked in the office in her tower buried with paperwork. If it wasn't for her frequent visits to the Aboveworld to stay with Sarah she would have become ill with stress a long time ago. However, it was her last visit that had made her put off this work in the first place and she cursed herself for neglecting her duties and wasting such a lovely afternoon catching up. But then she smiled to herself with the memory of the night before. It was worth it. Sarah had somehow managed to get tickets to see David Bowie in concert and Arian had sneaked away to the Aboveworld to go with her. Her first concert! Bloody noisy but well worth it.  
  
She scribbled a few lines on the document for the Labyrinth modifications and added her signature. Then she gathered up her pile of papers, clutched them under her arm and set off through the gardens towards home.  
  
She heard an almost silent flapping of wings overhead but hardly batted an eyelid when a large white barn owl swooped down and perched on her shoulder.  
  
"You're back a little early, aren't you?" the girl exclaimed but the owl ignored her question and gently pecked some shrivelled leaves out of her hair. Then it turned its attention back to the dead vole that was still in its right claw.  
  
"Oh father! That really is disgusting!" Arian complained as the owl began to devour the tiny creature "This top is brand new."  
  
At this comment the owl kicked off from her shoulder and metamorphosised in mid air into the familiar figure of her father, the Goblin King.  
  
"You could have fooled me." He said looking at the sweater disapprovingly. "Who is that anyway? And why would you want someone's face printed all over your clothes."  
  
"He was a revolutionary from Cuba, I think. I thought it looked cool."  
  
"It's a bit ironic for a future monarch to have a revolutionary on their shirt."  
  
"It's just a sweater, father. It's not like I'm going wear it in public. Just as you're not likely to eat mice in public or moult in the summer." said Arian, feeling slightly annoyed.  
  
"You got me there." Jareth smiled crookedly. "Come. We must eat. I have some things to discuss with you…"  
  
And with that he put an arm around his daughter's shoulders and the two of them ambled happily towards home.  
  
Arian poked at her food with disgust. The cooks had made cabbage again. Honestly,  
what was their obsession with cabbage. It just wasn't right. She considered giving them the recipe for Pizza and laughed at the thought of the Goblins trying to toss the dough like in those Italian restaurants. It had been bad enough when she had suggested pancakes. They were still peeling them off the ceiling in the castle kitchens. That thought made her laugh out loud suddenly.  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Jareth who had also been eyeing his food with repulsion.  
  
"I was just thinking about the pancake incident." the girl replied and laughed again.  
"That was just a food fight waiting to happen." She forced down another mouthful of cabbage. "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"  
  
"Marriage." said Jareth bluntly and caused Arian to spit out the water she drinking across the table.  
  
"What!" she shouted, her voice squeaky from shock.  
  
Jareth laughed at the look on her face. "That got your attention didn't it."  
  
"You want me to get married?" said Arian uncertainly  
  
"Only when you're ready." said Jareth.  
  
"Are you getting married?" she questioned.  
  
"Not just yet."  
  
"Then why do you want to talk about marriage?"  
  
The Goblin King shrugged "Well you're getting to that age and considering your importance there's going to be a lot of suitors after you. Most of them will only be interested in the power you wield so stay on your guard."  
  
"And the Nobel Prize goes to....." said Arian with a hint of sarcasm. "Father, I may not be that experienced in politics or the "inner workings" of the male mind, if you can call it such, but I'm not stupid."  
  
"Still you should be cautious. And if you must marry then at least choose carefully."  
  
Arian nodded awkwardly and got up from the table. Why did he keep bringing up these embarrassing conversations? He'd be explaining the facts of life next. She squirmed at the awful thought and hoped to avoid that lecture at all costs.  
  
The following Saturday, Arian rose early and changed into her baggy jeans and blue top that she usually wore on her visits to the Aboveworld. Her visits had become routine and she had quickly adapted to the modern world. Her room had changed slightly because of this and what were once dark and medieval chambers had been de-cluttered by an Ikea shelving unit and brightened by a coat of sky blue paint. She had also accumulated a modest CD collection which she often played on her battery powered Walkman. The result was an odd clash of time periods but Arian wouldn't have it any other way. It was like a symbol of her current life. She planned to have a quick wonder around Richmond before going to Sarah's for lunch. She wrote down the spell needed to travel between worlds and slowly faded away into the air.  
  
The first thing Toby noticed about London as his plane flew down low above the mishmash of buildings was a) it was huge b) it was ugly and c) it was kind of cool that way. Architectural consistency had obviously been thrown out the window as unflattering skyscrapers walked hand in hand with monuments of ancient splendour.  
One of the more modern structures looked like some kind of giant green Space Pickle.  
Toby got the strange image of giant pickle aliens landing on Earth and devouring the human race and absentmindedly doodled a little cartoon of it on the newspaper the air hostess had given him.  
  
He'd never been abroad before. The furthest he'd ever been from home was when he and his parents went to Florida when he was ten. Now it really felt like the real thing.  
He had his passport stamped, got searched at the airport then found himself suspended over hundreds of miles worth of Atlantic Ocean before the tiny patches of field and forest became visible to him and the plane finally touched down at Heathrow.  
  
He trudged off with the other passengers like a herd of cattle ready to get his luggage,  
get his passport checked, get searched again and get lost in the vastness of the world's biggest airport. He wandered nervously out of the arrival gate but those feelings dissipated as he spotted his sister among the crowd...  
  
That was three days ago and since then Toby had exhausted himself with the essential sightseeing and was more than ready to do a little exploring on his own. And so after a pleasant walk across the river, around the park and through some narrow alleyways,  
he found himself thrust into Richmond's highstreet in the middle of the Saturday morning rush.  
  
The place was packed. Toby had no idea you could fit so many people into such a tiny street. The place was like an anthill or something! He got so caught up in this thought that he forgot to look where he was going and crashed into someone as they were walking out of Virgin Megastores. He suddenly jolted back into reality and saw that he had just knocked over the most beautiful girl he had ever seen...  
  
"OW!! Watch where you're going, you imbecile!" said the girl angrily as she struggled to her feet again.  
  
Toby just stood there stupidly with his mouth open as he watched the apparition disappear stormily into the crowd. She was about his age and height with the same light brown hair. But unlike him, this girl held an aura of power and confidence about her in every movement and every stride. If Toby hadn't known better he would have guessed that she was a movie star or politician, and he kept getting the feeling that she should've been protected by armed guards or at least worn something a bit more glamorous.  
  
But her most striking feature by far were her pitch black eyes. Toby found that he was trembling. It looked like there was a whole new universe in her eyes...  
  
'You idiot!' he thought 'Why didn't you say something to her?!'  
  
Arian finished her shopping trip with a slight limp after her fall. Her ankle must have twisted after that fool knocked her down. Some people! No one looked where they were going any more, they were all too wound up in themselves. Well, a quick run of the Labyrinth would probably set that boy straight. Then he'd always watch where he was going. Arian laughed at the thought of that sandy haired boy getting lost in the forest or the oubliettes as she joined the checkout queue. Since her regular visits Aboveground she had found several things that she could no longer live without at home, like shampoo and toothpaste for example. She wrote a few lines when she was safely out of the supermarket and quickly vanished her bags of food and toiletries back to her room in the castle. Then she made her way across the river to Algar Road to see Sarah.  
  
"Hiya!" said Sarah happily when she answered the door and quickly ushered the young Goblin Queen into her hallway. "Guess who's autograph I got at the concert the other night!"  
  
Arian looked at the piece of card nonchalantly and read it out loud : "To Sarah. Glad you enjoyed the show. Best Wishes, David Bowie." She looked up "He's got really messy handwriting, you should have told him to re-write it."  
  
Sarah smiled. Of course fame wouldn't have seemed important to a member of the Labyrinth's royal family, so autographs held no meaning to Arian whatsoever. She was also a complete writing fascist and would accept nothing but perfect spelling,  
grammar and handwriting. "So how's things?" she asked.  
  
"Not bad." Arian replied "I'm up to my ears in paperwork, though. And father's been acting a bit weird lately."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well I'm legally allowed to marry now. If I didn't know him any better I'd think he was worrying about me."  
  
"Oh. Well you know how dads get." said Sarah and led Arian towards the kitchen.  
  
"Anyway, on the way here I was coming out of Virgin Megastores..." said Arian "...and this complete idiot just smashed straight into me..." she passed the threshold into the kitchen only to see Toby sitting at the table "...and he's here right now!"  
  
Toby was thoroughly absorbed in the drawing he was doing in his sketchbook and hardly noticed that someone had rung the doorbell. The picture was one of his best he had to admit. A new character had emerged on the page of a princess from another world with huge, dark spacescape eyes. He did not pay much attention to the idle chit chat around the front door. No doubt Sarah was showing off her David Bowie autograph for the millionth time. It was only when the voices got closer did he realise where he had heard the new visitor before. He looked up and nearly fell off his chair when he saw the girl from earlier that day, looking at him at if he were a cockroach.  
  
Sarah sensed the sudden tension in the air. Arian's powers were so thick they sometimes took on a life of their own when she experienced a particularly strong emotion. They never did anything but hung heavily in the air like an invisible warning sign.  
  
"Er...Arian." she said "This is my brother, Toby. He's staying here for the summer." but her words were hardly heard by the two teens who were staring at each other,  
one with shock and the other with anger...  
  
Arian's eyes narrowed slightly at the introduction. "Oh. So You're Toby." she said wistfully. Yes, she could see it now. Although this boy and Sarah had no physical resemblance, she could tell he was his sister's brother in the same subconscious way that she was her father's daughter. Then it struck her that in a matter of seconds he could have easily become her own brother or one of the idiotic goblins she helped so tirelessly to rule. She was almost bowled over by the strangeness of it all.  
  
"Hi." said Toby sheepishly "Sorry about earlier. I really should've paid attention to the street."  
  
"Um...that's all right." said Arian snapping out of her reverie and regaining her composure "Happens to all of us."  
  
The three of them sat down to dinner but Sarah found that she was doing all the talking about her life with her family, Chekov and all sorts of other things. Arian seemed to have wisely kept her mouth shut and had not mentioned anything about her world or her life and instead, had chosen to listen to her friend politely and add the odd comment when it was safe. Toby however ate in complete silence and never took his eyes off the girl. Sarah didn't fail to notice this strange fascination and neither, for that matter, did Arian. Oh dear. This was going to cause problems!  
  
Arian caught the boy staring at her again and she felt unsettled that he was staring at her with her father's eyes. Well, one of them at any rate. That was seriously disturbing.  
Perhaps it was some sort of side effect from his stay in the Labyrinth. After all,  
different people reacted to it in different ways be it mental or physical. Apart from that he seemed pleasant enough, if not a little clumsy, but she really couldn't tell as he hadn't said anything since his apology. She was uncertain if she liked him and decided not to worry about it just yet.  
  
Toby, who was oblivious to the two women's obvious discomfort, continued to gaze at the girl that his sister had introduced as Arian. It seemed like such a perfect name for her. Dark and mysterious yet devastatingly close to home. There was something about her manner that was oddly familiar though and it nagged at him from the deepest chasms of his mind. He was certain that had seen her pendant before as well. The strange crescent design topped with a Celtic triangle seemed to bring about the strongest feeling of deja vu he had ever encountered. Pretty soon curiosity got the better of him and he found himself blurting out the question on his mind.  
  
"Where did you get that pendant from?" he said suddenly. The two women visibly tensed. "If you don't mind me asking of course. Is it some kind of rock band emblem?"  
  
Arian blinked at him with disbelief and paused for a moment before answering.  
"Actually...Toby, my father gave it to me a few years ago. It's my family's emblem."  
  
"What? Like a coat of arms?"  
  
"You could say that." said the girl uneasily. She hated lying so she had decided to withhold the whole truth.  
  
"Are you, like, from one of those really old British families that can trace back their ancestors to the year dot." said Toby, fascinated. Arian nearly flinched at how bad his grammar was. It was nearly as bad as the street gangs on the nearby housing estates.  
  
"Actually my origins lie in Eastern Europe." Arian said bitterly. It was true. She had been created there as an experiment and it was the source of the Labyrinth stories.  
  
"Awesome!" said Toby and was about to ask more questions when the clock struck ten. The chimes were soon followed by an eerie bird-like call from the summer twilight outside. Toby recognised it as an owl and wondered what it was doing so close to the city. He heard a sharp intake of breath from the girl opposite. She was eyeing the clock but something told him that it was not the true source of her agitation.  
  
Arian stood up quickly and looked out the window urgently. "It's getting late. I must go." she said and started scrabbling for her notebook and pencil.  
  
"Oh no! Stay a while." said Toby not wanting their conversation to end.  
  
"No. My father's expecting me. Goodbye Sarah. Toby, it was nice meeting you." said the girl as she rushed down the hallway towards the front door.  
  
"Can I at least have your phone number?"  
  
"I must go." Arian repeated and rushed outside into the night. Toby watched her retreat through the window.  
  
"Wow! Her dad must be pretty strict to get her all worked up like that." he said out loud, his eyes never leaving the girl outside in the amber lamplight.  
  
"I think that was more to do with the Spanish Inquisition you were subjecting her too."  
Sarah laughed.  
  
"I just wanted to get to know her." Toby protested. He trailed off when he saw Arian's figure stop in front of the sign to Algar Road where a large white barn owl was perched. Obviously the one they had heard earlier. The bird took flight silently and perched on the girl's shoulder as she began to write something. The strange pair walked on until they both faded into thin air...  
  
Toby gasped, hardly believing what he had seen. He looked back to the window and all was peaceful and unmoved like it had never happened. A lonely dog barked in the neighbour's garden and a plane flew overhead. It was as quite as the city could possibly get. The young teenager mentally shook himself.  
  
'Just a trick of the light!' he though to himself 'I'm still jet-lagged and tired and I just thought I saw her disappear, that must be it.'  
  
Arian eyed the board cautiously before making her move. She needed to be careful now as one false move could mean losing all three of her strongest defensive pieces.  
Damn it! Strategy games were never her strong point.  
  
It was far too hot to sleep that night. The archaic stones of the Labyrinth and its castle had basked in the mid-summer heat all day and radiated all its stored up energy after the sun set, heavy and red, behind the mountains. Not even the darkest chambers with their walls that were six feet thick could resist. So at one in the morning Arian was still with her father in his private living room wearing their airiest clothes and playing Warwager.  
  
Warwager was a traditional board game in the Underground and was extremely popular with the fae nobility. It resembled a mixture of Chess, Risk and AD&D and was fiendishly difficult, but the basic purpose of the game was to build up your own army and defence system for your kingdom then travel across the board (which just so happened to have three levels to it) and try to conquer your opponent's kingdom.  
There were also bonus creatures, traps, creature traps, enchanted traps, enchanted creatures, and all other kinds of confusing things that Arian never really got the gist of and was probably why she always got thoroughly thrashed in these types of games.  
  
"I hate heatwaves." she said conversationally as she moved one of the silver figures across three squares. "At least when it's cold you can light a fire or wear a coat. Aside from jumping in a river there's not much you can do when it's hot." Another fairy crashed into the gauze screen that guarded the open window, attracted to the candle light inside, it squeaked angrily and fluttered up and down looking for an opening.  
  
"I know what you mean. I was just wondering what possessed me to wear a linen shirt today. Even my creases have creases." Jareth replied and destroyed all her defence pieces in one carefully calculated move.  
  
"Damn it!" cried Arian as Jareth's silver knight promptly melted all her guards with a tiny flash of magic then advanced on her king and thus winning the game.  
  
"Language!" Jareth scolded "And for your information, you played very well."  
  
"Er... thanks, father."  
  
"Just not well enough." he gloated.  
  
The girl scowled at him but the Goblin King just laughed again. "You know there are such things as bad winners as well as bad losers." said Arian and began to laugh herself.  
  
"How was your evening by the way?"  
  
Arian hissed slightly as she drew breath "Tonight was...unusual to say the least." she paused "I met Sarah's brother."  
  
Jareth looked startled for a moment as the mixed memories returned to him. "I see."  
he said trying not to sound bitter. "How is he? He must be about your age by now."  
  
"He's very nice." Arian replied "But too curious for his own good. He wouldn't stop asking questions, he wanted to know about my pendant, father. What if he remembers something?"  
  
"I don't see why that should matter." said Jareth "He's a mortal. What harm could he do?"  
  
"You're right." sighed Arian. "It's probably nothing." She said her goodnights and returned to her tower. She felt slightly confused about her last visit and wondered if the boy could remember something that happened so log ago. But she was even more confused that she secretly hoped he would remember.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts." said Sarah later that week as Toby sat dejectedly at the kitchen table.  
  
"Hmmm? What?" he mumbled.  
  
"What's on your mind, kiddo?" his sister repeated then noticed the sketchbook on the table that bore Arian's umpteenth portrait and felt that the answer was all too clear.  
This was extremely worrying, not to mention ironic that her brother had a crush on a girl that helped rule the very world she had saved him from.  
  
"When can I see her again, sis?" asked Toby.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Arian, who else." Who else indeed, he thought. Her name sounded so nice as it vibrated from his voicebox. Almost like a magic spell or incantation.  
  
"She comes here most Saturdays. Why'd you ask?"  
  
"I don't know anything about her, Sarah, but already, I think she's wonderful and I want to get to know her for the short time that I'm here."  
  
"Er...Toby, I don't think that's such a good idea." said Sarah worriedly. But it was still extremely cute to see her little brother have his first crush since that whole Susan incident. "Arian's from a very different background to you."  
  
"She's one of those sheltered rich girls, isn't she? The I'll just have to show her a bit of fun for a change." said Toby happily and went back into the living room to watch TV.  
But his head was still filled with images of a girl with dark star eyes, locked in a tower by her overprotective father, just waiting to be rescued...  
  
Toby was nearly exploding with anticipation when the doorbell rang the next Saturday afternoon and he rushed to answer it. Instantly his sky blue eyes met with the midnight ones of the visitor. Arian looked at him questioningly as he almost found himself at a loss for words again. Why did he always get so nervous around girls?  
  
"Hi!" he managed to stammer out.  
  
"Hello." said Arian. They stood in silence for a few awkward minutes. "So, are you going to let me in or is this strictly a doorstep thing?"  
  
"Oh sorry!" said Toby and quickly stepped aside. Arian stepped out of the stifling city heat into the air conditioned hallway and smiled.  
  
"Is Sarah back yet?"  
  
"Er...no. She's still doing that kid's theatre workshop in Chiswick." said Toby.  
  
"Oh!" the girl replied.  
  
"How did you get here?" Toby blurted out. He hadn't meant to say anything but the incident from the previous week was still plaguing his mind.  
  
Arian stared at him worriedly and for a moment looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "By train and then I walked." she said bluntly, only describing her journey from Primrose Hill where she usually appeared in this world.  
  
The answer made Toby so embarrassed that he wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. "Do you live far from here?" he managed to carry on.  
  
Damn it! He was asking questions again! "Yes, it is quite a way." she mumbled and made a quick getaway to the living room. The boy, however was not put off so easily and quickly followed.  
  
"Oh, because I was wondering, if its not too much trouble, if you'd like to go out some time." Toby continued, feeling weak at the knees from this new feat of bravery.  
  
Arian looked up with disbelief and panicked. She had never been asked out before.  
Well, not properly at any rate, and not by anyone that she genuinely liked before. The whole experience was totally alien to her yet strangely exiting at the same time. She mentally slapped herself, she couldn't say yes! The whole thing would be far too complicated and he'd find out about her past and it would all end horribly! "Er... well I don't know." she said trying hard to stay cool and come to a decision "My schedule's pretty full at the moment..."  
  
"Oh, that OK." said Toby but looked so disappointed that it almost broke Arian's heart.  
  
"We could go right now." she suggested, knowing she would regret it later...  
  
"Ah Jareth! There you are." said an overly plumy voice.  
  
The Goblin King looked up from his mountain of paperwork. He didn't like that voice but still welcomed the distraction from his accounts. This was usually Arian's area of work but seeing as it was her night off he did his best to manage them himself. So far he had procrastinated his way through pairing all his socks, calling his mother and inviting some Goblin Jehovah's Witnesses into the castle for some tea and biscuits.  
  
The speaker in question turned out to be King Alfred of Ethon, the Labyrinth's neighbouring kingdom.  
  
"Alfred! What are you doing here?"  
  
"I requested an interview with you last week."  
  
"Really? It must've slipped my mind." said Jareth. Damn it! He'd never get the annual budget done now!  
  
"So, how are you, your Majesty?" said Alfred.  
  
"I am quite well."  
  
"And how is your lovely daughter?" the visitor continued.  
  
"Arian is also well, Alfred." said Jareth. It was funny how Alfred didn't even know that Arian existed until heard about her power. "Now what did you want to talk about?" he asked and smiled coldly.  
  
"Oh, I was just thinking of our children. They've grown up so much haven't they?"  
said Alfred conversationally.  
  
"Your point being?" said Jareth impatiently.  
  
"Well, Arian and my son, Theo, seem quite fond of each other..."  
  
"Depends on what you mean by 'fond'." sneered the Goblin King. The Prince Theodorus was a well established imbecile who had terrorised his daughter on many occasions during their childhood.  
  
"And their both reaching a marriageable age." Alfred hinted encouragingly.  
  
"And...?"  
  
"Well, wouldn't it seem logical to make our kingdoms' alliance even stronger by uniting our families with the marriage of our children?"  
  
"It would, Afred. But that's not my decision to make." said Jareth, his words turning to ice and leaving the other man feeling about two feet high.  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
"Your son may ask Arian for her hand, but whether he gets it or not is entirely up to her." the Goblin King explained. "Now, if that is all, I'll bid you farewell."  
  
"Have you lost you marbles!" cried Afred angrily. "That Owl Magic must be messing with your head."  
  
"I was going to grant you safe passage out of the Labyrinth, Alfred." said Jareth dangerously "But I've changed my mind now." Seconds later, the rival King found himself stripped of his powers, hanging from a particularly weak branch over the Bog of Eternal Stench. Jareth smiled to himself. God that thing was useful!  
  
Arian had only been to the cinema once during her visits to London and didn't think much of it. Now she thanked her lucky stars that they had decided to go because it meant that she could be with Toby without him pestering her with questions. The film was rubbish but she'd stopped paying attention to that long ago and simply enjoyed the warmth from the arm around her shoulder. He really had a beautiful smile. People never seemed to smile enough at home, genuinely at any rate, and she had to admit that seeing Toby's smile made her feel all warm inside. He was just so honest and nice with no hidden agenda at all and she felt terrible that she had to keep her life a secret.  
  
Toby wished the movie would last forever. Instead of being pushed away or kindly told to 'piss off' his date had actually let him put his arm around her and smiled at him every time she passed the pop corn. Things were really looking great...  
  
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That next morning, Arian emerged blinking and yawning from her tower. She should never have let Toby convince her to stay out so late, especially the night before she was supposed to give a big public speech. It was worth it though. Being with him made her feel unusually cheerful, a breath of fresh air from her normal, serious self. A time to really let her hair down.  
  
She quickly dressed and headed through the Labyrinth to the new construction site on the outer edge, where the opening ceremony was to take place. It was part of a renovation plan she and Jareth had designed together two years ago. Today it was finally finished thanks to the surprisingly good building skills of the goblins. The Labyrinth was now twice its original size, not to mention that there was some serious magic involved in their most ambitious project yet. Maybe it wasn't as useful as the inter-dimensional farmlands they had created, but Arian still felt an infinite amount of pride in improving the structure of her life-long home. The design was truly awe-inspiring and the principal of solving it was (Arian didn't like to boast about this part but Jareth certainly did) technically a work of mathematical and magical genius.  
Basically the new outer sector they have devised looked similar to the wall maze but had twelve hidden levels you had to pass through in order to make any progress. The entrances to these hidden sections were in the form of trap doors, holes, secret doors ect. The only drawback being that there were thousands of them, half going forward and half going back and the only right way changed at will. To add to the mayhem each of the hidden levels were completely independent of each other and each had their own climate and time zone, so you could end up in a random snow storm or find that you'd lost three hours after only being there for three minutes.  
  
Arian realised that she was late again and quickly transported herself to the new outer wall where the large crowd of Fae nobility were already gathering (although most were only there for the free garden party afterwards). she stepped up to the podium in front of the main gate were Jareth was already standing.  
  
"You're cutting it a little fine, aren't you?" said the Goblin King angrily "What did I tell you about staying out late!"  
  
"Hey! I'm here, aren't I? Let's just get this over with!" she whispered back.  
  
"Don't think you're getting off that easily, we're going to have to rethink your social life from now on." said Jareth "Now remember : speak clearly, don't slouch and if you get nervous picture everyone in there underwear."  
  
Arian stood up to address the crowd and immediately felt weak in the knees from stage-fright. And the underwear advice was not helping!! Not even her grandmothers cheery wave from the front row do anything to calm her nerves.  
  
"Er...Ladies and Gentlemen and all other...fairy tale...things." she began uncertainly "As co-ruler of the Labyrinth it is my .... our pleasure to welcome you all to witness the single greatest achievement since the Labyrinth's original construction. And no doubt the first of many to come..." she continued well after she got into the swing of it and pretty soon the shaky start was forgotten.  
  
The ribbon was cut and everyone clapped politely but with little enthusiasm. Later on at the party, Arian nursed her glass of champagne in the corner after being congratulated heartily by her grandmother, Erestine and countless other obscure relatives that she had only met once or twice. Somehow she wished that Toby was there, then at least they could be outcasts together and laugh at how ridiculous everyone else was. Then she saw Prince Theo heading in her direction. As if things couldn't get any worse! She tried to make a hasty escape but he'd already seen her and pretty soon she was trapped.  
  
"Lady Arian, what a pleasant surprise, I didn't think I'd see you here." he said piling on the best of his charm.  
  
"I live here." said Arian tiredly. "And it's Queen Arian, now!"  
  
"Oh yes of course! I'd forgotten you were taking over the family baby-snatching business."  
  
"What is it that you want, Theo." Arian snapped.  
  
"Quite a nice little proposition for you actually. A chance to leave this pathetic little kingdom and make something of yourself."  
  
"Really? What would that be?" said Arian icily.  
  
"Well, marrying me of course!" said Theo triumphantly. "I'm sure being a queen of Ethon is a lot better that being a queen of Goblins. You can live in a nice civilised country with no annoying little creatures and no dangerous mazes to cross."  
  
"Me! Marry you!!" Arian nearly laughed out loud. "I'm afraid I can of far better things to do, Theo!"  
  
"Like what? Staying in and reading with your dad? Only having him and Goblins for company?"  
  
"Yes. That and gouging out my eyes whilst walking on a tight-rope above the Bog of Eternal Stench."  
  
"Is there a problem here, you two?" Jareth quickly cut in before and embarrassing shouting match began.  
  
"Nothing, father." said Arian innocently "Theo was saying that he could solve your Labyrinth in ten seconds flat, didn't you Theo?"  
  
"No I didn't!" Theo panicked. He may not have shown much respect for the place but he had heard the stories and after what had happened to his dad in there he really didn't want to go inside that place.  
  
"Yes you did. You said that it was almost as easy as those mazes you get on the back of cereal boxes." she continued.  
  
"Well I'm never one to turn down a challenge." said Jareth evilly and with a wave of his hand Theo found himself staring down a seemingly infinite passageway.  
  
Arian grinned. "Thanks father." she said with relief and they laughed heartily,  
regardless for now of the terrible consequences that would follow.  
  
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX  
  
King Alfred of Ethon glowered at his son who had only just arrived home.  
  
"Family baby-snatching business!!!!!" he bellowed angrily. "For god's sake man! You were supposed to propose to her not cause an international conflict!"  
  
"I'm sorry father. I wasn't thinking." said Theo weakly.  
  
"No! You never think! That's you're trouble and that's why this kingdom is in such a mess!"  
  
"Hey! I didn't ask for that famine to hit the city!" Theo protested. "Besides, I don't see how marrying "Arian the holier-than-thou daddy's-girl" is going to help anything."  
  
"You idiot!" cried the king "She possesses the Fate Magic, the most powerful magic that's ever existed! If she were married to you, we could bring the whole Underground to its knees! We could conquer worlds, Theo!"  
  
"Oh!"  
  
"And that's why you're going to go back there and woo her until she gives her consent!"  
  
"Well, what if she doesn't?" asked Theo. "What if she sends me to through the Labyrinth again? It's scary in there and it took me two days to get out again!"  
  
"Look, I don't care how you do it! Trick her, blackmail her, force her if you have to!  
We need that girl!" Alfred shouted and stormed out of the room.  
  
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX  
  
Toby spent the next week in a sort of happy, fuzzy cloud. The girl of his dreams had actually agreed to go out with him! Someone who seemed so completely out of his league that she was playing a different sport altogether actually enjoyed being with him! She had even said so and had agreed to see him again in a few days. He had never felt this way about a girl before, not even when he was going out with Susan the previous year. He really couldn't be happier.  
  
Actually, that was not entirely true. He would have been slightly happier if Arian had actually given him a clue about her life, where she lived, what her parents did ect.  
Whenever he asked, she would always politely steer the conversation to something else. From what he'd gathered, she came from quite a wealthy family who had something to do with gardens or livestock or something. She loved books and writing,  
something he had never really enjoyed because his dyslexia made it so difficult. Toby had never been very academic but had always had a certain talent for drawing and was planning to enrol at art college as soon as he graduated from high school. If he graduated at all, that is....  
  
He turned his attention back to his sketch-book. It was yet another Arian portrait. This time in a rather elaborate hunting outfit with and owl on her arm instead of a hawk.  
He added some finishing details and began a similar drawing from a different angle.  
  
The doorbell rang and Toby nearly jumped out of his skin as he snapped back into the real world.  
  
As the door swung open, his stomach turned a somersault and his legs turned to jelly.  
It was Arian! There on the doorstep... with a cardboard box... and some lemonade!  
Then he panicked slightly. Was she going to cancel their date on Friday? How did he look? Did his breath smell?  
  
"Hi." said Arian "I was just running a few errands and thought I'd stop by."  
  
Toby breathed a sigh of relief "Oh that's great. Come on in."  
  
Arian smiled sweetly and stepped inside. Once in the living room she opened the box she was carrying and took out some strange pewter squares. "I found some illuminated lettering for my printing press." she explained and showed Toby an F "Look at the craftsmanship on that, especially in the flowers around the serif. These must be at least two hundred years old but they could last another five hundred and hardly get worn down at all."  
  
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You own a printing press?" said Toby, bemused.  
  
"Yes. Well, three now actually. I fished out this German one last year from the fifteenth century. I also have six book presses and ten stitching frames."  
  
"Wow! So you could, like, start your own publishing company." said Toby "Make all your own books and everything!"  
  
"I could I suppose. I'll make you one if you like." said Arian. No one had ever encouraged her to print books before.  
  
"Would you?" said Toby, eyes filled with wonder. "No one's ever made me a book before."  
  
"Well, it would be nice." said Arian. "And not many people read where I live, just me and father." she unwittingly let slip but quickly shut up again.  
  
"Where do you live, Arian?" asked Toby, for about the umpteenth time. Perhaps he was hounding her a bit but on the other hand it could be a real breakthrough.  
  
Arian pretended not to hear the question. "Did you do these?" she asked with astonishment as she picked up his book of drawings that lay open on the coffee table.  
  
Toby froze. Why did that book have to be open at the very page that had all his fantasy portraits of her?! This was probably the single most embarrassing moment of his entire life! "I...er...yes." he stammered sheepishly.  
  
"They're beautiful!" said Arian "Is that supposed to be me?"  
  
"Yeah! Sorry about that."  
  
"No! Don't be. You really have talent." Arian praised, but felt a little uneasy when she saw the picture of her and the owl. she flicked through the rest of the book, only to find a whole range of characters that all bore an uncanny resemblance to the Labyrinth's inhabitants. She turned another page and gave a shocked little squeak as her gaze fell on an all too familiar pair of mismatched eyes, perfectly rendered in water-colours. He remembered! Toby remembered! He must do because he had got her father's portrait exactly right, right down to the Cuban heels. It was quite scary actually.  
  
"Er... mind if I ask where you got all these ideas from?" she said quietly.  
  
"Well, for the ones that look like you, I just drew you in different costumes. But I'm not sure about the others. They sort of come to me in dreams." said Toby then noticed that Arian was staring at the picture of Jareth. "Impressive, isn't he? I'm never sure if he's a good guy or a bad guy though."  
  
"Oh. I think that all depends on whose side you're on." said Arian knowingly "Could I use a copy of these in my book? I could make them into engravings for you if you like."  
  
"That would be great!" said Toby excitedly. He suddenly noticed they had moved a lot closer together while they were talking. In fact, their faces were only a few inches apart. He wasn't sure who moved first but pretty soon he felt the warm, secure sensation of her lips chastely against his.  
  
Arian finally drew back. Her cheeks blushed bight red and she smiled awkwardly.  
"Um...well... I'd better get back. They'll be wondering where I've got to." she said softly and left almost as quickly as she came. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
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A/N - Yay! I finally wrote something! I couldn't help it! I know this is supposed to be a serious story but I just had this great idea and unwittingly slipped it back into humour! Sorry if you're an angstophile but that's the way I am!  
  
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"Father!" Arian called as the castle doors slammed behind her. "Are you there?" she said checking Jareth's study. There was no one there except a few spiders and a mountain of half finished paperwork. She put her stuff down and made a quick circuit of the castle but again there was no sign of him so she went back to the study to look for clues.  
  
"Now, let's see. It's too early for him to go flying and he doesn't have any events or appointments to attend to… He may have gone out but he hasn't done that since 1973..." her eye fell on a small slip of paper on the desk with gold edges and neat swirly writing all over it. Arian's eyes went wide with shock. "No!"  
  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  
Jareth sat in a dark corner of the Escher room. To the untrained eye it looked he was having his usual brooding session but over the years Arian had learned to tell when it actually meant something and when he just fishing for attention.  
  
"Father?" she called. Several stairways moved in response making the Goblin King impossible to reach. "Oh, don't be like that!" Arian exclaimed and scribbled down some words and made a colossal jump across the room and onto the ledge where he was sitting.  
  
"Nice jump!" Jareth exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks. Toby dragged me off the see the Matrix the other day and I thought I'd copy it" Arian joked but failed to get a reaction. "Oh don't be depressed! I brought you some lemonade." she said enticingly and held out the plastic bottle.  
  
"I'm not depressed." Jareth mumbled and took a swig of lemonade.  
  
"You can't keep things bottled up like this. The last time you did that we didn't speak for two years!" cried Arian. "And why didn't you say your birthday was coming up? Grandmother's throwing you a party and everything."  
  
"Do you know how old I am, love?" the Goblin King asked.  
  
"I haven't got a clue." she replied truthfully. The Fae looked pretty much the same all their lives so it was impossible to tell.  
  
"I'll be four hundred in two weeks."  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
"Precisely. Where did all that time go? What exactly have I achieved in all this?"  
  
"Oh God, Father! You're not going to have a mid life crisis on me are you?"  
  
"I mean I haven't gone out an enjoyed myself since 1973! I haven't been out with a woman since the Beatles stopped touring! I've got to get out there before its too late!" said Jareth and jumped up.  
  
"Father! No!"  
  
"I'm going for a fly, Arian. I may be some time!" he called and sprinted out the room.  
  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  
"And then he just turned into an owl and flew out the window." Arian explained to Sarah worriedly.  
  
"Four hundred you say?" said the older woman.  
  
"I'm worried, Sarah. He's never acted like this before."  
  
"I must find out which face cream he uses."  
  
"SARAH!"  
  
"Oh yeah! Right, right." said Sarah. "Well if he's anything like my father, he'll either get married to someone half his age on the spur of the moment or buy a Jaguar S-type."  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
"Or if he's like my step mom he'll drop everything and become a journalist in New York."  
  
"That's not so bad but still, Oh my God!"  
  
"Don't worry, Arian. I'm sure it'll all turn out OK." said Sarah. "I'm sure your dad knows where his priorities are."  
  
"I hope so." said Arian "Do you mind if I stay here tonight. I'm too angry to go home at the moment."  
  
"Sure you can."  
  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  
Unknown to either of them, Toby was eavesdropping outside the living room door. Arian was staying here! Actually spending the night! She had obviously had a problem at home. Toby bristled at the thought of that no good excuse for a father doing anything to upset his Black Star. Wait! Where did that come from? He must've thought up the name because of her eyes. On the bright side, perhaps this was what he needed to get her to open up to him and show him her trust. Toby smiled, then maybe he could tell her how he felt… 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
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Toby rushed upstairs to change seeing as he was only wearing a Darkness T-shirt and his boxers. Somehow he wasn't quite ready to let Arian see him like that. After quickly checking that his hair looked all right he tried to saunter into the living room where his crush was currently sitting. He failed miserably by tripping on the corner of the carpet and his limbs flailed wildly in the air before he fell. It was beyond his control now and he braced himself for the painful collision with the coffee table, but it never came...  
  
Toby opened his eyes again to find himself leaning in mid air at a forty five degree angle. Then he noticed the pair of arms wrapped around his waist. Then he realised that they were Arian's arms! How did she do that? She was right on the other side of the room!  
  
Arian pulled him back up again and, much to his disappointment, let go. "Walk much?"  
she said and smirked crookedly in a way that the boy found oddly familiar.  
  
"So, what brings you here?" asked Toby.  
  
"Oh, nothing important." she replied.  
  
"Lie much?" said Toby darkly. He was getting seriously annoyed with her for avoiding his questions like that.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" said Arian angrily.  
  
"You're upset about something and you're not telling me." said Toby "Why are you so secretive?"  
  
"I'm not secretive! I tell you loads of things."  
  
"Yeah but you haven't told me anything about where you're from, your family, your history! Hell, I don't even know your phone number, Arian!"  
  
"It's complicated, OK!" Arian shouted.  
  
"What? Are you like a secret agent or something?" said Toby angrily.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous."  
  
"Well what then? Are you under a witness protection program?" Toby shouted trying another wild guess.  
  
"No." said Arian who was now refusing to make eye contact and a silver tear forced its way down her cheek.  
  
Toby realised he had gone too far and quickly shut up. Arian wiped her eyes on her sleeve and reclaimed her composure. She didn't know why the argument had upset her so much as she could always stay calm and diplomatic, well, except when it came to Theo but he probably couldn't even spell 'diplomatic' even if he tried.  
  
"I'm sorry." said Toby. "It's just that I don't get to meet someone like you very often.  
Can you blame me if I want to get to know you?"  
  
"I want to tell you who I am. I really do. But the truth is that I've hardly figured it out myself." said Arian slowly. She felt so guilty about keeping so many secrets that she couldn't just leave it there. "My life is one of those things that I need to show you instead of explain."  
  
"When will you show me?" said Toby, mouth going dry. Was this really it?  
  
"We're having a party in two weeks, it's my father's birthday. I want you and Sarah to come. Then you'll know." They spent the rest of the evening in silence.  
  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  
Sarah heard the argument from the kitchen. She didn't have to guess what it was about. Toby had been trying to glean information off her all week about her mysterious friend. Everything was really getting out of hand and if Arian didn't explain things soon then Toby could end up getting seriously hurt, or at least he was in for a nasty shock.  
  
She was quickly pulled from her thoughts when a large white owl outside zigzagged wildly through the air before crashing into the kitchen window, bouncing off it and landing on the patio with a dull thud. Sarah sighed and went outside. Talk about bad timing.  
  
She found Jareth in his human form lying on the ground where he had fallen. He had a five o'clock shadow and his hair and clothes were covered in dirt and dried leaves.  
  
"Ow! Where'd that window come from?!" the Goblin King moaned.  
  
"The double glazing salesman." said Sarah.  
  
"No wonder it hurt. Is Arian here?"  
  
"Yeah but she's pretty pissed off right now. You should probably wait until she's calmed down, and when you don't look like crap." said Sarah.  
  
"At least I don't still wear Magic Roundabout pyjamas even though you're thirty." said Jareth angrily as he magically transformed into a new outfit. He knew it was a childish comment but he was hung over and concussed and frankly didn't care.  
  
"So where have you been anyway?" said Sarah, ignoring him...for now.  
  
"Well I went bar crawling, then I caught some mice, then I got into a fight a robin who cheated by the way so don't believe a word he says, and then I woke up in a strange tree with a strange bird with a strange feeling of emptiness."  
  
"You mean you...?!"  
  
"Yes and please don't tell Arian, she wasn't exactly step-mother material, if you know what I mean."  
  
"Well, like I said, I don't think this is a good time." said Sarah. "Arian had an argument with Toby earlier."  
  
"Well Toby wants them to have a more serious relationship but Arian isn't ready to make that commit..." she stopped short when she saw the look on the Goblin King's face.  
  
"He WHAT!!!"  
  
"No! Jareth I didn't mean it that way!"  
  
"The little rat!! I'm going to kill him!!" Jareth yelled as he stormed through the house.  
"If he's laid one finger on my daughter there's going to be hell to pay!!"  
  
"NO! Stop!!" cried Sarah as she followed. Why did that guy always choose to have his family dramas in her living room? 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

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A/N - Wow! The reviews outnumber the chapters 2 to 1. That hasn't happened to me in months. Thank you thank you thank you!

Plus I'm sorry if the argument in the last chapter seemed a little contrived. The only reason being that I'm really crap at that sort of thing. So be warned that all the scenes I write with sex and violence in them will be rubbish!

RANT: Have you ever tried watching Labyrinth in German? Its very very freaky!   
Especially Hoggle. I don't know why but it reminded me of this weird German kids show about a princess and a magic tree that really traumatised me and half my family when I was six.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

By now things had pretty much gotten back to normal for Arian and Toby and they had settled back on the sofa to watch The Simpsons and were polishing off the rest of the Twiglets.

"My God! Why do people eat these things?" asked Toby.

"I dunno. I suppose it's toast and marmite in snack form so it would be a good party food for breakfast people." said Arian thoughtfully.

"It tastes like feet!"

"Mmmm foot snacks."

"Now with toe jam."

"Ewww Toby! You really crossed the line there!"

"I'm Sorry." said Toby.

"That's OK."

"No. I mean I'm sorry about earlier."

"There's no need, you're entitled to your own opinion. And I admit it wasn't very fair of me to keep things from you. I did have a good reason though."

"I don't understand. What could be so unusual about your life that would make you keep it a secret?"

Poetic irony is a strange phenomena. Also known as Sod's law it can makes things quite annoying. This was one of these instances because it was that moment that a seriously angry Goblin King decided to crash through the living room door.

"Umm...that." said Arian nervously. "Toby, this is my father. Father, this is Toby."

"Oh my God! Your dad's a transvestite! No wonder you didn't want to say anything!"   
cried Toby.

"YOU!!" shouted Jareth and pointed at the bemused teenage boy. "How dare you try to corrupt my daughter!"

"What!" cried Arian.

"You heard me!" snarled the Goblin King. "He's going to betray your friendship by only thinking of his own sordid pleasures! I should've turned him into a Goblin when I had the chance!"

"Sorry, you've lost me now." said Toby uneasily.

"Er...excuse me but you're the only selfish one I can think of at the moment! Where the hell have you been!?!" cried Arian.

"That's not the point!" said Jareth.

"Yes it is!" shouted Arian. "You're always out doing goodness knows what and leaving me to do all the work!! You said that we would be equals, but all you seem to do is enjoy yourself and take all the glory jobs while I'm stuck in your stupid office day and night! I'm supposed to be your co-ruler, not your secretary! And now you have the audacity to question my friend's intentions!"

Toby was a little disappointed that she had only called him her friend and decided to speak up again. "Arian, what on Earth is going on?"

"Toby! I think you should get out of there." Sarah said the doorway. She knew those two didn't fight very often, but when they did it was probably wise to run for cover.   
You could never tell whether or not the two powerful sorcerers were going to unleash their magic on each other.

"That's Arian's dad!" said Toby when they were safely in the kitchen "Man, talk about dysfunctional."

"There's more to it than that." said Sarah and explained most of what she knew about the situation. All the while she accompanied by the rather loud shouting match in the other room.

"So they're from another world?" said Toby "That's incredible!"

There was a loud slam from the hallway, shortly followed by another one and the house became silent.

"Well that's a relief. This place nearly got struck by lightening the last time they had a fight in here." said Sarah.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Can you see her?" said a voice in the darkness as the image in the crystal became clearer.

"She's out in the open and no one's around. We must act now!" said the second. "Is the summoning spell ready, so we can bring her here?"

"Just finished it. All we need is to recite the incantation from the forbidden spell book."

"Excellent!"

"I wonder why this stuff's forbidden when it's so useful." said the first voice.

"Oh shut up, Theo, and get on with it!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth sped round the corner he had seen the girl run around but realised there was no one there. There was an unusual metallic smell in the air besides the ordinary fumes of urban humanity. She must have used her magic to leave the city...


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

Jareth returned to the castle, dejected and angry and still feeling the effects of the evening's alcoholic rampage. Arian was not in the castle, and in truth why would she be. Not that he was going to admit he was wrong or anything, as a parent he had every right to do what he did. He just couldn't help feeling a little worried over the girl's rather unusual disappearance. Arian did not fly off the handle very often, and running away was a little out of character to say the least, especially since she had become queen and started taking her duties more seriously. And something just felt wrong about that evening, her magic seemed darker than usual and less controlled, less elegant than his daughter's usual work. Almost as if the spell had been cast by a completely different person.

To say the penny dropped, was a bit of an understatement and instead it plummeted towards the hypothetical earth and made a small crater by Jareth's feet. Gods be damned! Someone had taken her!

"You know just because you took my pen away doesn't mean I won't destroy you." said Arian defiantly.

"And how do you plan to do that?" said the dark figure on the other side of the bars of the cell she was now imprisoned in. Arian couldn't see his face but the annoying nasal voice gave away exactly who her captor was. "Your father cannot save you this time and soon the only magic you will be able to wield will be under my control."

"Oh, come one Theo! Do you honestly believe, putting some ancient golem curse on me is going to work? I'm insulted."

"The same curse has you restrained like this. It seems to be working fine to me." said Theo triumphantly. "And once our marriage is consummated tomorrow, the curse will take it's full and did I mention permanent effect."

"Oh no! There will be NO consummating! Not on my watch!" the girl shouted.

"You're opinion really doesn't matter." said the young prince and swiftly left the dungeon, leaving the girl with her own anger.

"SO! Who could have done it?" shouted the elderly woman Jareth had the misfortune to call his mother.

"Mother, she's a valuable asset to any kingdom, who knows who did it." said the Goblin King angrily.

"Are there any prime suspects?"

"Ethon is the only kingdom I can think of with a big enough motive, but they couldn't even catch a cold let alone my daughter."

"Then we must go there first and make haste." said Erestine "Whatever magic they used was pretty powerful. Arian could be in real danger."

The young ambassador sat among the various courtiers that were scattered around the temple. Only a few could make it to the wedding which had unusually only been announced the day before. While he was not acquainted with the finer points of Ethon society, he knew that a day long engagement was rather suspicious. However it wasn't his place to intervene, and it probably had a perfectly reasonable explanation, young love and all that.

Each of the guests rose to their feet as the doors flew open and the traditional wedding march began to play and the bride slowly stepped towards the altar dragging her feet a little. Certainly not the most enthusiastic looking bride in the world. She was good looking enough, but her hair was a little strange and the dress really didn't suit her.

Arian reached her assigned place at the alter. She didn't seem particularly unhappy but the sweat on her brow told a different story. Theo looked at her with astonishment, was this the same girl who had attempted suicide less than twelve hours earlier? Maybe a little blood loss had brought her to her senses. Either way, there were guards at the door, in case she tried anything. The ceremony began as the priest warbled the necessary but utterly boring prayers of the kingdom's traditional wedding.

"You seem in better spirits, my dear." he said under his breath "I'm glad my doctors were able to fix you up so quickly."

"Shut it." the young bride spat.

"But I just saved my fiancé's life, I can't help but be a little concerned."

"You didn't save my life, you ruined my death!"

"They do seem a happy couple don't they, Ambassador Keiro?" said a one of the nobles next to him. "Must be quite different to the wedding your used to."

"Yes, but err, wedding ceremonies from western kingdoms are becoming quite popular there now." said the ambassador quietly. He hated small talk, and his English really wasn't good enough for it. The woman who had been talking to him did not reply however as from the moment the prince said "I do" the entire temple lost consciousness, as if they had all been drugged by an unknown substance and everyone was sleeping soundly where they fell.

Everyone that is except himself and the bride…


End file.
